Art Movements
This week in art news: Ukrainian border guards recovered 17 paintings stolen from the Castelvecchio Museum, Greece renewed its bid to have the Parthenon Marbles repatriated, and a neurologist claimed to have diagnosed the condition of the woman in Andrew Wyeth's iconic work "Christina's World."
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Neurologist Marc Patterson concluded that Anna Christina Olson, the inspiration for Andrew Wyeth’s iconic painting “Christina’s World” (1948), likely suffered from early-onset Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease.
Ukrainian border guards recovered 17 paintings — including works by Rubens and Tintoretto — that had been stolen from the Castelvecchio Museum by armed robbers six months ago. The paintings were wrapped in plastic bags and buried under shrubbery near the border with Moldova.
Egyptian police arrested four members of the satirical group Awlad el-Shawarea (“Street Children”), which recently poked fun at President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in a video. They will likely be charged with inciting protest and insulting state institutions.
Greek Culture minister Aristides Baltas told the Guardian that the country is working to forge international alliances in its bid to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum. June 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the British parliament’s decision to purchase the marbles from Lord Elgin.
Sotheby’s announced a $25.9 million loss for the first quarter of 2016.
English Heritage is working to preserve graffiti drawn by former prisoners at Richmond Castle, which served as a cell block for conscientious objectors during World War I. The project was made possible by a £365,400 (~$524,678) grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Phani Guthula, an engineer who almost died after falling 38 feet through a glass ceiling at the Rodin Museum in 2012, reached a $7.25 million settlement with the defendants in the case, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its security company.
Stefan Simchowitz and Jonathan Ellis King settled their legal case against artist Ibrahim Mahama. The dealers had sued Mahama after he declared hundreds of his signature jute sack works to be inauthentic; the artist countersued, arguing that the dealers had “mutilated” his work by cutting it into smaller pieces. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.
An impromptu retrospective of Zaha Hadid’s work will open at the Venice Architecture Biennale later this month.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will reopen its newly expanded building to the public on Saturday, May 14.
Transactions
The Andy Warhol Museum acquired “Do it Yourself (Sailboat)” (1962), one of Warhol’s five “paint-by-number” works.
The Australia Council for the Arts announced a four-year investment program to distribute $112 million to small and medium-sized arts organizations.
The New Museum launched an $80 million capital campaign, with $43 million already pledged by its board of trustees. The institution plans to expand using the building it owns next door while also tripling the size of its endowment.
Sidney and Lois Eskenazi donated $15 million to the renovation of the Indiana University Art Museum.
Ben and Susan Winter donated $10 million to the construction of a new visual arts building at Franklin & Marshall College.
The Dia Art Foundation acquired eight works by Robert Morris [press release].
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art acquired Salomon Jacobsz van Ruysdael’s “River Landscape with Boats and Liesvelt Castle” (1641) and Kehinde Wiley’s “Portrait of Toks Adewetan (The King of Glory)” (2016).
Online auctioneers Paddle 8 and Auctionata merged.
The National Portrait Gallery acquired a rare album of work by early Victorian photographer Oscar Gustav Rejlander.
Transitions
Susan Delvalle was appointed president and executive director of Creative Capital.
Maria Jenson was appointed executive director of SOMArts.
Pilar Tompkins Rivas was appointed director of the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College, becoming the first Latina to fill the post.
Carter E. Foster was appointed deputy director for curatorial affairs and curator of prints and drawings at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland appointed Andria Hickey and A. Will Brown as senior curator and assistant curator, respectively.
Gretchen Wagner was appointed curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
Werner Heegewaldt was appointed archive director of Berlin’s Akademie der Künste.
Shelley Bernstein was appointed chief experience officer and deputy director for digital initiatives at the Barnes Foundation.
Charlie White was appointed the head of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art.
The Low Museum will permanently close later this month.
Seattle art gallery Roq La Rue will permanently close this summer.
Accolades
Michael Dean, Anthea Hamilton, Helen Marten, and Josephine Pryde were nominated for the 2016 Turner Prize.
The Graham Foundation announced its 2016 grant recipients.
The recipients of the 2016 Baker Artist Awards were announced. The $50,000 Mary Sawyers Imboden Prize was awarded to Joyce Scott.
Ksynia Marko was awarded the 2016 Plowden Medal in recognition of her textile conservation work.
The Clark Art Institute’s new Clark Center was given LEED Gold certification by the United States Green Building Council.
Patrick Hough and Lawrence Lek were announced the winners of the 2017 Jerwood/FVU Awards.
Yih-chuen Liao, Kristina Mompoint, and Nicolas Nazmi were awarded Volkswagen Fellowships at MoMA PS1.
Opportunities
The Queens Museum posted an open call for its Studio in the Park Residency. The project involves the use of a 150-square-foot studio situated in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The deadline for applications is May 25.
Obituaries
Sir Jack Baer (1924–2016), art dealer.
Louisa Chase (1951–2016), artist.
Nicolai Cikovsky Jr. (1933–2016), art historian and curator at the National Gallery of Art.
John Ericsson (1930–2016), architect.
Martin Friedman (1925–2016), former director of the Walker Art Center.
Michael S. Harper (1938–2016), poet.
Ursula Mamlok (1923–2016), avant-garde composer.
François Morellet (1926–2016), artist.
Vladimir Nemukhin (1925–2016), artist, member of the “Lianozovo Group.”
Nicolas Noxon (1936–2016), documentary filmmaker.
Isao Tomita (1932–2016), composer and pioneer of electronic music.
Irwin Weinberg (1952–2016), philatelist.
